In Pivotal Georgia, Big Wrinkle Emerges in the Vote Count

Georgia is one of the battleground states seen as crucial to deciding the next president, but don't be surprised if the state can't report results on election night. The state board of elections on Friday voted 3-2 to require all counties to hand-count ballots to verify the machine count, reports USA Today. As the Washington Post notes, that has the potential to delay results for days or weeks because only the smallest counties will be able to get the count done by the next day, as mandated. "Military ballots have already been issued," complained Ethan Compton, elections supervisor in the state's Irwin County. "The election has begun. This is not the time to change the rules. That will only lower the integrity of our elections."

Voting rights advocates were similarly irked, saying the late change has the potential to not only delay the count but "lay the groundwork for spurious challenges," per Reuters. The board is controlled by three members approved by Donald Trump, who has previously praised them as "pit bulls," notes USA Today. One of them, Janelle King, has said her mission is "to ensure that every vote is counted accurately and every election is conducted correctly going forward." NPR has called the state a "must-win" for both Trump and Kamala Harris. (More Election 2024 stories.)